An ultrasound imaging system has included an ultrasound probe with a transducer, a console with an integrated or external display monitor, and a user interface. The transducer transmits an ultrasound signal into a field of view and receives echoes produced in response to the signal interacting with structure therein. The echoes are conveyed to the console and are processed, producing images of the scanned structure, which may be visually presented through the display monitor.
The display monitor may include a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display, and/or other type of display. The display monitor has been a “dumb” monitor with no processor or processing capabilities and that is simply an output device that displays images and other information (e.g., transducer frequency, gain, etc.). The user interface has included a keyboard or keypad with mechanical depressable buttons and/or a flat touch screen area (e.g., LCD, CRT, etc.).
The display monitor has been placed in an upright vertical position so that the clinician can look at images and/or the other information displayed via the display monitor. The user interface has been placed in a generally horizontal position, approximately perpendicular to the upright vertical position. This arrangement is similar to that of a desktop computer monitor and corresponding keyboard. The user controls features such as gain, zoom, pans, etc. with the controls of the user interface.
Unfortunately, with such a user interface/display monitor arrangement, where the user interface includes a touch screen with a flat surface, it may not be readily easy for the user to locate and/or operate touch sensitive controls of the user interface while observing an image and/or patient. Rather, the user may have to look away from the image and/or patient and down at the user interface to find and/or operate the control, adding complexity and inefficiency to the procedure.